Waking up this morning to a message from one of my yoga sistahs filled with pictures was a pleasant and sweet surprise. I appreciate that she took the time to remind us of our connection to one another. Us being I Am Yoga CLT’s first Advanced Yoga Teacher Training cohort. Her fellow shit shifters. What a great way for her to invite us to celebrate International Yoga Day and the first day of summer.
We understand yoga’s power to not only to bring us peace but also the ways that it unfurls us, cracks us open, if we allow it, to release what know longer serves us. To practice svadyaya, engaging in self-study. Devoted to the practice that serves us – tapas – in spite of this comfort. Open to where it takes us – surrendering to the divine energy that rides on the breath and occupies the body – ishvara pranidhana. Oh, yeah, and joy!
I am so grateful to my I AM Yoga sistahs and my teachers Kiesha and Candace. And, others, including folks like Dr. Gail Parker, Shola Arewa, Maya Breuer and Jana Long to name a few. Black women who have forged a path for us to practice in ways where we get show up as we are, Black, Bold, Brilliant and Beautiful. Able to take up space and be in community with one another. Shifting shit, creating rich compost for us to root ourselves in so we can grow, flourish and thrive.
What a wonderful reminder of how much this community rooted in yoga that celebrates SOUL and centers Blackness in ways that I longed for prior to 2017. A reminder how it sustains me simply because we exist and continue to show up for one another in big and small ways. A reminder too of why I am so invested in sharing yoga as a powerful way for Black folks to experience healing and restoration.
Read more about my yoga journey in We Got Soul, We Can Heal – Chapter 13 – “Yoga Heals: Being at Home in Our Own Bodies”
Restorative Yoga is part of every Diasporic Soul Heritage and Healing Experience
